Grab One Of 2017’s Best Games For Free Next Week

Epic Games is giving away a free PC game every two weeks this year via its new Store, and the next of those free titles has now been revealed. What Remains of Edith Finch, one of 2017’s best games, will be available free of charge from January 10 until January 25.

All you need to do is create an Epic account on its Store and claim the game within those dates. You’ll then be able to play the game for free whenever you like, even after January 25. Currently, the free game on offer is Super Meat Boy, which is free until What Remains of Edith Finch takes over on January 10.

Edith Finch is a relatively short adventure game about a girl whose family have all suddenly died under mysterious circumstances. Playing from Edith’s perspective, you explore the family home to discover more about the events leading to each person’s death.

Our reviewer, Justin Clark, enjoyed the narrative-driven game immensely, awarding it a 9/10. “It’s not often that a game’s plot slips past the bitterness of grief to finally get to the acceptance, but that’s the triumph in What Remains of Edith Finch,” he wrote of the PS4 version in our What Remains of Edith Finch review. “Ultimately, if the game has any resemblance of a moral, it’s that the bravest, most beautiful thing every one of us does is choose to keep going, despite knowing what’s coming.”

Catherine PC Release Looking Increasingly Likely

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board has provided another indication that Catherine, Atlus’ narrative-driven puzzle game, will be released on PC. The Catherine ESRB listing has been updated to include PC alongside PS3 and Xbox 360, the platforms on which the game was originally released back in 2011. The listing also has Xbox One included in the platforms section, suggesting it may also make its way to Microsoft’s console at some point.

This follows a teaser that appeared on the Steam page for Bayonetta, another game published by Atlus’ parent company Sega. The teaser was a picture of a sheep, an animal used in Catherine to represent male characters that aren’t the protagonist, Vincent. These sheep are usually vying for the affection of Vincent’s love interest, Catherine, by way of competing in block-pulling puzzles.

Catherine is set to be re-released on PS4 and PS Vita as Catherine: Full Body, an updated version of the game that will feature new content. Since it’s the ESRB listing for the original version of Catherine that’s been updated, it could be that the PC release will be the vanilla version of the game, should it materialize.

In GameSpot’s Catherine review, Kevin VanOrd said the game is “mature and occasionally profound, exploring themes like sexual fidelity, personal responsibility, and trust. Catherine doesn’t just challenge your hand/eye coordination: It challenges your intellect and your emotions.”

Lots More PS4 Game Deals Added To PlayStation Store’s EU Sale

Sony’s big January PS4 game sale is still ongoing, and now the company has discounted even more titles. Big games like Assassin’s Creed Origins, Far Cry 5, and Hitman 2 are going cheap in Europe in addition to the titles that were already discounted.

Ubisoft games make up a decent proportion of the sale’s new entries. Assassin’s Creed Origins is down from £50 to just £16 for example, while Far Cry 5 is just £25 and Rainbow Six Siege is on offer for £9.49. A few EA games are included in the promotion, such as a FIFA 19 and Madden NFL 19 bundle for £40 and another package that includes those two titles plus NHL 19 and NBA Live 19 for £73.59. Need for Speed Payback is discounted to £10, while Star Wars Battlefront II is also a tenner. Finally, IO Interactive’s Hitman 2 is on sale for £28, despite only launching in November.

These deals are in addition to a plethora of discounts that went live in December. Those included such promotions as Battlefield V for £30, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 for £36, and God of War‘s deluxe edition for £25. The whole sale runs until January 18; for the full list of games on offer, head over to the PlayStation Store.

While you’re there, be sure to pick up the free PS Plus games for January 2018. This month PlayStation Plus members can pick up Steep, Portal Knights, Amplitude and more for no extra cost.

Indie Games Festival Awards Finalists Revealed; Winners To Be Announced At GDC 2019

The 2019 Independent Games Festival has announced the finalists for its awards ceremony. The winners for each award will be announced on March 20 during GDC 2019.

There are several awards that over a dozen different games have been nominated for. Titles can be nominated for Excellence in Visual Art, Excellence in Audio, Excellence in Design, Excellence in Narrative, Best Student Game, the Nuovo (Innovation) Award, and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Each winner for the first six awards also earns a cash prize worth several thousand dollars, with a grand prize of $30,000 USD going to whoever receives the Seumas McNally.

Return of the Obra Dinn is the most nominated game for IGF by far, with the title up for five of the seven awards. Obra Dinn was one of the three indie games to earn a spot in our 10 favorite games of 2018 list, alongside Dead Cells and Into the Breach. It captured our eye with its superb story-telling and unique murder mystery mechanics. Although they haven’t received as many nominations, other notable standouts for the IGF awards include Forgotton Anne, Minit, Opus Magnum, and Unavowed.

We’ve compiled the full list of finalists below, which you can also view–along with the honorable mentions for each category–on the Independent Games Festival’s blog.

Independent Games Festival 2019 Awards Nominees

Excellent in Visual Art

  • Forgotton Anne
  • Alto’s Odyssey
  • Hypnospace Outlaw
  • Just Shapes & Beats
  • Mirror Drop
  • Return of the Obra Dinn

Excellence in Audio

  • Ethereal
  • Hypnospace Outlaw
  • Moss
  • Return of the Obra Dinn
  • Alto’s Odyssey
  • Paratopic

Excellence in Design

  • What the Golf?
  • Do Not Feed the Monkeys
  • Noita
  • Return of the Obra Dinn
  • Dicey Dungeons
  • Opus Magnum

Excellence in Narrative

  • Wandersong
  • Genital Jousting
  • Unavowed
  • Seers Isle
  • Watch Me Jump
  • Return of the Obra Dinn

Nuovo (Innovation) Award

  • Circle0
  • eCheese Zone
  • Noita
  • Mirror Drop
  • Black Room
  • Paratopic
  • Do Not Feed the Monkeys
  • Nth Dimension[al] Hiking

Best Student Game

  • It’s Paper Guy!
  • Grace Bruxner Presents: The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game
  • After Hours
  • En Garde!
  • levedad
  • Sole

Seumas McNally Grand Prize

  • Minit
  • Opus Magnum
  • Noita
  • Return of the Obra Dinn
  • Hypnospace Outlaw
  • Do Not Feed the Monkeys

Pokemon Go Made Nearly $800 Million In 2018 – Report

Thanks to developer Niantic’s steady rollout of new content, 2018 turned out to be a big year for Pokemon Go. Not only was the title selected by GameSpot as one of the year’s best evolving multiplayer games, it also saw an impressive jump in revenue.

According to mobile tracker Sensor Tower, Pokemon Go generated an estimated $795 million in revenue worldwide in 2018–a 35% increase over 2017. US players sunk the most money into the game last year, spending an estimated $262 million in 2018, although Japanese players weren’t far behind, spending approximately $239 million.

Daily spending in Pokemon Go was up as well last year. The game generated an average of about $2.2 million per day in 2018. Players also spent more than $75 million on the game in the month of December alone between Google Play and the App Store, up from $57.2 million spent during the same month in 2017.

These impressive figures can likely be attributed in part to the regular stream of new Pokemon, events, and features that Niantic introduced to Pokemon Go throughout 2018. Early in the year, the developer kicked off a new monthly series of events called Community Days, which give players around the world a chance to catch rare Pokemon and learn exclusive moves for one day every month.

On top of that, Niantic implemented a host of new features in the game. Last summer saw the long-awaited arrival of friends list and trading, while PvP trainer battles finally arrived in December. Niantic also introduced Adventure Sync, a feature that allows Pokemon Go to track your distance walked even when idle, making it easier to hatch Eggs.

Pokemon Go’s latest in-game event, the Adventure Sync Hatchathon, is currently underway. The event runs until January 15, during which time you’ll earn twice the normal amount of Candy and Stardust for hatching Eggs. Meanwhile, the next Community Day is scheduled to take place on January 12 and will feature the Gen 2 starter Totodile.

Beyond Pokemon Go, Niantic is also co-developing a Harry Potter mobile game with Warner Bros. titled Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. The game was originally slated to launch in 2018, but it will now arrive sometime this year. The studio also recently launched an enhanced version of its original mobile game titled Ingress Prime.

The Walking Dead Is Crossing Over With Fear The Walking Dead Again – Report

The line between The Walking Dead and its companion series Fear the Walking Dead is about to get a little more blurry. At the beginning of Fear’s fourth season, Morgan (Lennie James) was moved to the series from the original, creating the first crossover between the two shows. Now, based on reports, it looks like he’s getting some company.

ComicBook.com is reporting that Austin Amelio, who appeared in Seasons 6-8 of The Walking Dead as Negan’s right-hand man Dwight, is set to pop up on Fear. The character was last seen in the Season 8 finale of The Walking Dead when he was banned from ever returning to the Alexandria safe zone.

While it remains unclear exactly how major this crossover will be, Entertainment Weekly notes that co-showrunner Ian Goldberg previously revealed that new characters would come into play during Fear’s fifth season. Should Dwight be one of those, he could serve as a very interesting ally to Morgan.

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The addition of Amelio takes Fear even further from its origins. At this point, only one of the show’s original cast members–Alycia Debnam-Carey–remains. The first half of Season 4 saw the characters played by Kim Dickens and Frank Dillane killed off. Meanwhile, new cast Maggie Grace, Garret Dillahunt, and Jenna Elfman were added this year to round out the show.

As for future crossovers, that might become tricky. Early in Season 9 of The Walking Dead, following the departure of Andrew Lincoln, the series jumped ahead 6 years. Unless Fear were to match that at some point, chances are it’ll be a while before another character moves from one show to the other.

Fear the Walking Dead will return for its fifth season later this year. The second half of The Walking Dead Season 9 premieres on February 10 on AMC.